New Game Plus: Sigma Star Saga
by Nanoswarm1
Summary: Recker just wanted a quiet life with his wife after saving the galaxy.  He didn't expect to have to do it again for the first time.  Rating may increase later
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sigma Star Saga is not mine. It belongs to Namco. I just own a copy of the GBA game. I'm not making any money from this story- if I were, would I be posting it here?

Sigma Star Saga- New Game Plus

I'm drifting through a haze of blackness and pain. Occasional words and phrases pierce the fog, giving me the only glimpses I have of the world outside my mind.

"…flier crash. Ironic, since he's…"

"…other three were DOA…drunk…"

"…severe…emergency treatment…we're losing…"

Then, nothing but darkness. I am alone with my thoughts. Even the pain is gone. Am I dead? What happened? Even as the questions form in my mind, I remember. It was Remembrance Day, and Scarlett and Keith were visiting Psyme and me, the Heroes of the Cataclysm and Saviors of the Galaxy (as the newsies have called us for the past thirty-five years). There was some kind of party being thrown in town, and the kids managed to convince us to make an appearance. The last thing I remember was the other flier hurtling toward us at what must have been twice the speed limit. Had I been driving, I could have pulled out with at worst a scrape, but Keith's no fighter pilot.

Then it hits me. My family is dead, killed by a drunken idiot and a half-ton of bio-alloy. I'm probably dead, too, or I will be soon. Frankly, I don't see the point in continuing, even if I do pull through. What do I have left? No close friends- everyone's too blinded by my fame- no living family, nothing that would give life meaning. Just an endless procession of days filled with politics, empty ceremony, and a career that's little more than filling time. God, what I'd give to do it over, or even just to spend one last day with Psyme.

"YOU DESIRE A SECOND CHANCE, EARTHMAN?"

What the hell? There's something else here! I can't see it, but I can feel it now. And it feels familiar somehow, but strange at the same time.

"YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED US BEFORE, EARTHMAN, AND SPOKE WORDS OF WISDOM. WE ASK AGAIN, DO YOU DESIRE ANOTHER CHANCE?"

The voice sounds like an echo of a million people speaking in unison, but that's not what catches my attention. Despite the fact that I'm not sure I have a body at the moment, I speak.

"Another chance? You mean at life? Do you mean reincarnation?"

"NO. WE CAN SEND YOU BACK TO BEFORE, IN THE BODY YOU HAD THEN, BUT THE MIND YOU HAVE NOW. IN RETURN, YOU WILL DO US A SERVICE."

"You can do that? Have me wake up in my younger body? With my current memories? What kind of service do you want in exchange?"

"NOTHING YOU WILL FIND ONEROUS. YOU WOULD DO THE SAME WITHOUT OUR REQUEST. WE WILL CONTACT YOU IF NEEDED."

"Wait, before you send me, who are-" But oblivion claimed me before I could finish.

*DISCONTINUITY*

I awoke again to blackness- not awakening as usual, but a sudden burst, as if I had simply been switched on again. I felt a sense of something impending, and somehow knew that I was about to return to the land of the living.

My vision cleared, and I was confronted with a vision of beauty, one I had somehow not expected to see. A gorgeous purple-skinned woman with fanned ears, a Krill parasite, long reddish-brown hair, and an amazing figure. Psyme, my wife. However, keeping in mind that I was probably in the past, I couldn't react appropriately without more information. Unfortunately, the room we were in looked like an absolutely typical Krill skinning or operating room, giving no indication of where or when I was. Furthermore, there was nobody else in the room who might help me figure it out. I decided to simply say nothing until I knew where and when I was. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long.

"What, you've never seen someone get skinned before?"

I started. Those were the first words Psyme had ever said to me, and in a room exactly like this one. Had I been sent back to just before the Cataclysm? Could I prevent it? Is that what the entity that did this wanted me to do? But another thought struck me almost immediately. Psyme didn't remember me! I could have wept at the thought. Something of this must have shown in my face.

"You must be Recker, the new guy. Cheer up; working with me isn't so bad. My name's Psyme- it's easy to remember because it rhymes with rhyme." (Strangely, this is true in both Krill and English, though we were speaking Krill at the time)

I nodded mutely as Psyme continued walking around me, inspecting the new meat.

"Well, you're cute enough, and my parasite likes you…your parasite's obviously the runt of the litter, and you're no giant yourself, compared to most Krill males, so I guess you're well matched."

I was racking my brain trying to remember what she had said the first time around- I didn't think she called me cute the first time she saw me. I was also getting subtle vibes of 'wrongness' from her- when you've been married to someone for 35 Earth years, you learn to read them, and this was still Psyme, even if it wasn't _my_Psyme- and trying to figure out what it meant. Then she leaned in close and murmured something in my ear.

"This room isn't monitored, so as long as we're quiet, nobody will know what we're doing. Now, what's a crack human pilot like you doing joining the Krill armada? And don't lie to me, Sigma."

End Chapter One

A/N: I've updated my profile page. You can read more there, including the idea this story is based on.


	2. Chapter 2

New Game Plus: Sigma Star Saga

Chapter 2

I stared at her in shock. The first time around, none of the Krill had known my codename until much later. That Psyme knew meant she must have been sent in time as well. At that point, I stopped thinking. I just turned, grabbed her, and kissed her passionately. How could I not? It was only after we broke apart that I realized there were other explanations for her question. What if it wasn't her that had been sent back? Perhaps it had been someone else, who had coached her in what to say for some unknown reason. However, before I could start coming up with conspiracy theories, she interrupted my train of thought.

"Is it really you, Ian? You came back too?" The look in her eyes convinced me I wasn't just dealing with a well-coached Psyme, but with my wife.

"Yes, dear. It really is me. The flier crash that got you killed me too, just not quite as fast. Then there was this voice, it said I'd encountered it before, offered me the chance to go back, and said I needed to do something for it in return. Then I came to here, with you asking if it was the first time I'd seen anyone get skinned."

Psyme got the look she gets when she's thinking about something. It makes her look adorable, although I'm not exactly unbiased.

"Huh. That happened to me too, but I've been here a couple of hours- long enough to get my bearings." A wave of sadness passed over her face, "Ian, what about the kids? Do you know what happened to them?"

Grief hit me like a wave. "Dead in the crash, I think."

"And since they weren't alive now, they probably didn't get sent back." Psyme had tears in her eyes as the implications hit her. "They didn't just die, they never existed." She grabbed me and held tight, like if she let go, the same would happen to us. I put my arms around her.

"There, there." I said, patting her back and feeling inane at using such a clichéd phrase. I'm not used to seeing my wife crying. She usually gets angry, rather than sad. "We still remember them, and we always will, but we have bigger problems right now."

Psyme looked up at me, and her expression hardened. "Right. Tyrannical Overlord, your spymaster what's-his-name, and the impending Cataclysm." She blinked in realization, "Ian, we can save everybody!"

"My God, you're right! If we can get the virus now, we can stop the bioweapons from hatching and trashing the sector! Then we-"

"Sorry to interrupt, love, but I don't think that'll work. Otherwise, it'll just leave the puppetmasters on both sides alone. On a more practical note, I'm not sure we can get to Starbase 3 right now."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that. So what do we do?"

Psyme thought for a moment before responding.

"We'll go dirtside like we're supposed to so we can take readings. I've got something of a plan, but I think we've already spent too long talking in here- much longer and we'll raise suspicion."

"What, will they think I've used my Earthman charms to seduce you or something?" I grinned, "But I understand what you're saying- we should have some time alone down there to plan."

"Right. As it is, we'd better head over to the landing segment so we can get started," she paused for a moment before continuing, "And we'll have to keep, you know, us, a secret, at least for now."

"Gotcha. No telling anyone we're a married couple from the future."

Psyme giggled, then sobered.

"Seriously, Ian. I'm just a disgraced ex-commander and you're just a new recruit. If we get too friendly too fast, that'll raise alarm bells that we can't afford right now."

"I understand. I don't like it, but I understand."

"I hate it as much as you do, dear, but now we really do have to get going."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fifteen minutes later, the landing party, including Psyme and myself, were stepping from the starbase's lander onto the surface of the forest planet, while the shell fleet deployed to scan for threats. We immediately split up and spread out to search for what Krill High Command wanted us to find. In a matter of minutes, however, I felt a familiar tingle in my spine, though one I hadn't felt in a long time. I smiled as the world momentarily dissolved into blue light. Krill fighters were such a joy to pilot, and it had been years since I'd flown anything better than a civilian flier.

Settling into the acceleration couch I had been summoned onto, I quickly took stock of the situation as my parasite began communicating with the ship. I was in a Type 1 Scout ship- small and fast, but with awful standard armament. Then I saw something that shocked me.

"I have helper nodes? How did that happen?"

All Krill fighters have two different weapons systems, creatively named 'custom' and 'default.' The default system is the one "built" into the structure of the ship, typically some sort of plasma bolt generator. The custom weapons system, however, is actually a highly adaptable organic production unit, controlled by the pilot's parasite. This system allows a pilot to use the same weapons even across ship types, provided the parasite contains the schematics on how to grow the weapons in the first place. The question was, how the hell did I end up with the data for a weapon system I know I didn't have at this point the first time around? I resolved to think about it more later, and turned my attention to piloting.

There were dozens of indigenous creatures in my path, and without a pilot, the brainless scout ship would have been obliterated in seconds. Unfortunately for the native creatures, I was one of the best fighter pilots alive, my parasite allowed me to control the ship at the speed of thought, and the helper nodes circling my ship could fire their tri-barreled plasma guns at an astonishing rate. It took me less than a minute to deal with the threat, and the blue light of Krill teleportation was sending me back to the planet's surface.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

An hour later, the landing party had reconvened atop a large ridge, which seemed to be vibrating slightly underfoot. Psyme immediately took charge.

"Alright people. I expect whatever's causing this shaking is what High Command sent us here to find. You three," and here she pointed to the others in the landing party, "stay here, do full scans and record them, then get back to the lander. The new guy and I are going to see if we can get more information. New guy, you go first- consider yourself promoted to trap detector."

We left the other three, looking for the human mine both of us already knew we'd find. Half an hour of navigating through heavy forest later and we were well out of earshot of the others. That was when we stopped to discuss things further.

"You know, Ian, somehow I didn't expect the afterlife to include tromping around on Endor."

"Just be glad we haven't run into any Ewoks, sweetheart."

Yes, Psyme is a fan of old human sci-fi movies. A surprising number of Krill are.

"Seriously, though, Psyme, how do you want to do this? We need a good, solid plan for how to deal with everyone."

"Well, I think we shouldn't make too many major changes to the timeline until we can at least get the virus. So here's what I think we ought to do…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two hours later, we had finished plotting and found the side entrance to the mine.

"Are you sure you're okay with this part of the plan?"

"Yeah. Remember, Tierney's using criminals who'd otherwise get the death sentence for most of this stuff, and the rest is automated. There's nobody here I'll lose sleep over killing. Besides, I'm just the distraction, you're the one sneaking in and taking their data."

"If you're sure. Here's the summoning pad."

I walked over to her, hugged her close, cupped her chin with my hand, and looked into her worry-filled eyes.

"Don't worry. I got through this once before, right? I'll be fine."

"Just… come back safe, alright? I thought I'd lost you before. I couldn't bear to lose you again."

"I will. I promise. You come back too, okay? Don't get caught."

"Right," she smiled weakly, "now let's go before they send out a search party to find us."

I stepped onto the summoning platform, and the world went blue.

Surprisingly, my flight through the mine was actually almost boring. Admittedly, there were a tremendous number of obstacles, including things shooting at me, but I had lots of experience with that sort of thing. Most of the turrets were automated, and I took care to obliterate them, as well as anything else that looked important. My primary concern was remembering my goal- distraction rather than destruction. Even the enormous tunneling machine at the end was something of a letdown- rather than engage in something like "honorable combat", a few well-placed plasma bursts were enough to destroy the magnetized rails it traveled along. Lacking any form of ranged weapon, the immobilized machine was easy prey.

My part of the mission accomplished, I teleported back to the entrance, where Psyme was already waiting for my return.

"There, see? That wasn't so hard," I assured her. "How did you do?"

"Well, I got all the sensor data we'll need to convince High Command we're useful, and I grabbed a couple of handheld scanners- one for each of us."

"Nice."

While Krill biotechnology was much more advanced than human biotech (except germ warfare), and human technology in general in many cases, there were a few areas where humans had the advantage. Sensor technology was one of those areas- human-built scanners were generally half the size of the Krill equivalents, and still had superior range and sensitivity.

"So, now that we got what we came for, let's get back to base. The sooner we get that virus, the sooner we can stop what's going to happen."

End Chapter 2

A/N: I had fun writing this chapter. The Ian/Psyme interactions just seem to write themselves, and the idea of Psyme liking _Star Wars_ just wouldn't get out of my head. Next up, Bloss is happy, the transfer to Starbase 2, and things start going off the rails.


	3. Chapter 3

New Game Plus: Sigma Star Saga

Chapter 3

Returning to the lander segment of the starbase wasn't precisely difficult, but it took time. Unfortunately, Psyme had had to contact the orbiting portion of the starbase to inform them of our victory, meaning that we were almost certainly being watched. As such, we couldn't talk freely, and the hour-long walk back stretched to an eternity.

When we got back, I headed straight to Bloss to report, while Psyme stayed behind, ostensibly to process the data we had retrieved. When I entered Bloss's office, he greeted me with a smile on his rotund face.

"Recker, come over here!"

"Yes, sir?"

While I had mentally prepared to meet Bloss, one of the millions of people who had died in the Cataclysm, it was still something of a shock to have it actually happen, as if nothing unusual had happened. Of course, from his perspective, nothing had.

"You wiped out a solid mile of human scum! Far as I'm concerned, you're good as Krill."

"Uh…thank you, sir."

"Which is why it disappoints me to see it end here."

"End? What do you mean?" I feigned surprise, but I knew what was coming.

"Relax, kid. I'm trying to tell you you've been promoted."

"Really?"

"Krill High Command reviewed the readings from the Earth Mine the moment we got them. Said it was exactly what they needed. Destroying the human infestation put you over the top. I'm finally in with the chief mucky mucks now, thanks to you. They won't forget my name after today. And I'll make sure I remember yours."

"Thank you, sir. May I ask where I'm being promoted to?"

"For starters, hold onto that scanning tool, you'll need it. You're heading to Starbase 2. It's stationed in orbit above a fire planet. And find Psyme. I'm throwing her into the deal. She'll be someone else's problem for a change."

"You mean mine." I grinned, "I think I can manage."

"That's the spirit, good lad! Just…watch your back. Not everyone will accept that a human can be as good as a Krill."

"Yes, sir, I understand."

Bloss made a gesture of dismissal, and I left. Just as his door closed behind me, I heard a noise inside my head.

"Recker! This is one-way audio only. I need to speak with you in the Comm Room."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I hated Tierney. He'd died just before the Cataclysm, but had he lived, he would have been convicted of a list of crimes longer than my arm. But I had to contact him, or he'd just keep buzzing the radio implant in my head. Also, Psyme and I had planned for this, and I smiled slightly as I went to find the Comm Room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Commander Tierney? Commander Tierney, come in!"

"You got my signal. Good."

"Yes. Yes I did." I let a hint of my anger show to aid my deception. "It nearly blew my cover, but yes, I did get your signal."

"What? Blew your cover? But how-?" Tierney looked shocked.

"_Almost._ I was just leaving Bloss's office. If you had called a single minute earlier, you would have reached me while I was talking with him. I'll let you imagine for yourself the potential consequences of _that_ happening."

He blinked for a moment, digesting this.

"I see. My apologies, Recker."

"Right. Apology accepted- as long as you don't do it again," I lied. "When I have something to report, I'll call you as soon as I safely can." Another lie. "I've been promoted, or maybe just transferred, to another location, a starbase orbiting a volcanic planet, mostly because I slaughtered a bunch of humans digging a mine on a Krill-controlled planet." I paused, as if a thought had just struck me, before continuing, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Tierney sighed. "Yes, Recker, I know. I initiated that operation to get that geological data, likely the same data the Krill are searching for. We believe this data to be key to the Krill development of a planet-killing superweapon. For what it's worth, you did what you had to do."

"Alright, Commander. I don't like it, but I'll keep on the job. Just remember, I'll report when I have something and it's safe- don't signal me unless it's a matter of life or death. Recker out."

I waited a moment as the connection shut down, then exhaled heavily in relief.

"I think he bought it. Yep, that's me, Ian Recker, obedient little pawn. Heh."

I stretched, then went to go find Psyme and take the shuttle to Starbase 2.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Upon reaching Starbase 2, Psyme and I were ordered to report to the Commander's office. I was to go first.

"Recker, reporting for duty!"

"Welcome to Starbase 2, Mister Recker. You will address me as Commander Zelly. You will find that I run a very tight ship, unlike your previous Commander's putrid animal stable. He briefed you on the purpose of your transfer?"

Zelly had been one of the highest-ranking Krill survivors of the Cataclysm, and had been integral to the reconstruction of Krill. She hadn't changed a bit in the 38 years since the Cataclysm.

"He said I was being promoted, that my assault on the human mining operation pleased High Command."

"Hmph. A transfer and a promotion are two very different things, Mister Recker. You should know that I read all about how you came to be in Bloss's service. A crack pilot found clinging to life in a human prison ship. Rather unconventional way to join our ranks, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe. What's the conventional way for humans to join the Krill armada?"

"A valid point. However, the very fact that you are human makes me wonder if I can trust you. Can you be relied upon to obey orders? Even if they bring you into conflict with your own kind?"

"Commander Zelly, I have already been in conflict with my own kind. I assume you read Bloss's full report on me, including the part where I attacked a mining operation run by 'my own kind'? Not to mention the fact that I was put in a maximum-security prison cell and sent off into space by 'my own kind'?"

"Oh, I know all that," Zelly waved dismissively, "but the fact remains that you're human, not Krill. As such, some level of distrust is warranted."

"Fair enough. Did you bring me here to keep an eye on me?"

"I didn't bring you here at all. The order came from the Tyrannical Overlord himself."

"And if Krill military bureaucracy is anything like the human version, the order didn't come with anything like an explanation, right?"

"Correct. However, regardless of why you're here, you will follow my orders. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Good. We are to continue the geological survey work begun on the forest planet by Commander Bloss. Blune will fill you in. He'll be commanding the mission"

Doubtless acting on some prearranged signal, Blune walked in.

"Don't be expecting any special treatment, Recker. I'd just as soon see you dead and out of my hair."

"I hope you don't mind if I try to avoid that particular fate. At least the dead part of it."

Zelly cut in before the conversation could escalate.

"Blune, please bring Psyme in for her briefing. Recker, you're free to tour the starbase. Your quarters are at the end of the hall. Dismissed."

Blune and I both left.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Half an hour later, I was standing at the comm station, speaking to Commander Tierney again.

"Well, sir, I've got some news for you. First off, I've begun establishing a rapport with one of the female Krill officers, which may pay off in the future. Second, I'm currently in orbit around a volcanic planet, and the Krill are intending to do another geological survey. Possibly due to my experience on the forest planet, they want me to come along. Third, my new commanding officer is much more strict than Bloss. I wouldn't be surprised if she presses for a more thorough check of my story. Any suggestions on how to handle that?"  
"We've recently discovered a piggybacked signal on AEF's lines. It's probably a Krill wiretap. We're dummying up some documents that support your story, and we'll be placing the files where the Krill can find them. If they investigate your past, they'll find a detailed account of exactly who you said you were. As for the rest, good work, Recker. Anything else?"

"Just that in order to gain access to this comm station, I had to promise to clean it too, so don't expect too much more in the way of reports- I can't guarantee anything like a regular schedule."

"Understood. I'll let you get back to that cleaning."

The communications link disconnected, and I got to work. Although I had framed one of the Krill technicians for the communication the first time around, I'd lost the stomach for it. When I left, the comm room practically sparkled, and I made sure to return the spare access key to the technician I'd gotten it from in the first place. Only when that was done did I head over to the lander segment to meet with Psyme and Blune.

"Ah, Recker, glad you could join us," Blune remarked acidly.

"Look, I'm sorry, but one of the techs needed help with something. Since I don't like the idea of the space station I'm on malfunctioning, I figured I'd help. I just didn't expect it to take so long." This was all technically true- I just had to hope he wouldn't look any further into it.

Blune looked taken aback by this, but recovered quickly.

"Oh. Well, don't let it happen again."

"I'll do my best, sir. Now, what's the mission? Same thing we did on the forest planet?"

"Similar. The main difference is the ground is much less stable, so we'll have a longer way to go, and there'll be more obstacles. We'll also probably have to plant locator beacons so the starbase can project forcefields- otherwise we might not be able to find a site where we can get a good sensor reading as deep as we need to."

Psyme cut in, "What are we waiting for? Or are you two just going to stand there talking all day?"

"No, you're right. Recker, would you care to do the honors?"

"Sure." My fingers flew across the control panel, and bare seconds later, we began our descent.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

We stepped onto the surface of what the Krill had creatively dubbed "the fire planet," and Blune immediately took charge.

"Yes, we'll definitely need to set up forcefield paths if we expect to get anywhere. Let's split up and search for good spots to place them. Look for discolored areas of soil- it means soft ground that isn't flowing with magma. Call us if you find a good spot."

It took a while, but we were able to set up the beacons we needed. Then we used the maps generated from orbital imagery to locate and reach the optimal area for deep scans. This was all very similar to the way it went the first time it happened. It wasn't until we actually reached the fissure that things started going differently. Rather than getting into an argument over the original Krill incursion on Earth, I tried engaging Blune in small talk.

"So, what do you think we'll find down there?"

"Hard to say. Probably something like whatever it was we found when during the excavation of Earth."

Well, so much for not getting into an argument.

"Excavation? You practically destroyed all life on Earth!"

"Listen, Recker. Nobody is trying to destroy Earth. That was just a side effect of the excavation."

"Oh? Then explain the attack last month."

"That was just a follow-up visit to assess the damage to your planet. It was your idiot pilots who forced the battle."

"Uh-huh. Then why did Commander Bloss refer to Earth as "the front lines?" Why did you send a cutting-edge battleworm and a small army of _walkers_, of all things? For that matter, put yourself in the place of humanity. A bunch of aliens come out of nowhere, don't communicate at all, don't answer any communications, just rip out a continent-sized chunk of seafloor and leave, almost killing humanity in the process. Isn't a certain degree of hostility justified?"

"I'm just saying that with time you'll see that not everything is as black and white as you make it out to be. For now, let's see what the scans turned up." I could tell that at least some of my points had struck home, and he was much less self-assured than he had been just minutes ago.

Psyme was making a show of peering at the screen of her scanner, and looked up at Blune's last remark.

"I've got the results, but they're very strange. According to this, the tremors are exactly the same as the ones we found on the forest planet."

Blune answered first, "That's impossible! There must be another explanation. I want to get a closer look at the source of the tremors."

"Well, according to this, there are places where a ship could get through, but it would be dangerous, and you'll need two people- one to pilot and the other to run the sensors."

"Fine. Recker, can you fly in tight spaces?"

"If I have to. You want to ride shotgun?"

"Of course. We'll see if we can't get to the bottom of things."

"If you say so. Psyme, would you-?"

"Set up the summoning pad? I just did."

"Alright, then, Blune. Let's go see what weirdness awaits."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I hate flying underground. It's not that I can't do it, but it feels wrong to fly and yet be totally closed in, with no view of sky or stars. Other than that, however, the flight was fairly routine for most of the way. Certainly, there were some tight spots, and I really hoped I wouldn't be docked for the assorted scratches and scorch marks that weren't there before, but there was really only one major surprise.

"What the fu-? Is that a giant worm? OhgoditsgonnaeatmeWOAH! Okay, that was too close for comfort. This thing is going to die. Nothing alive should be that big, and nothing that big should be that fast."

I'd forgotten about the giant parasite that had been living off the quiescent bioweapon. Fortunately, despite being tough enough to survive indefinite submersion in lava, it wasn't immune to plasma bolts. It took a while, and some fancy flying, but I was able to kill the thing.

"You okay, Blune?" I asked over the intraship comm system.

"…Are we dead?" came back the response in a quavering voice.

"I don't think so, and dying seems like the sort of thing you'd remember, right?" No need to tell him I was speaking from personal experience. "Did you get the scan data you wanted?"

"Yes. Can we go back now? I need some solid ground under my feet."

"No problem." I sent a few commands to the ship, and we were both teleported back to the surface.

When we rematerialized, Blune immediately sunk to his knees. Psyme started, then approached hesitantly.

"Is something wrong?"

"That was…It was…He…"

Psyme turned to me, worry evident in her features.

"Since it might be a while before he starts making sense, you tell me what happened."

"I think it was the giant worm-thing that tried to eat us that he's reacting to, because other than that, it was a pretty normal flight."

"Giant worm-thing?" Her expressions flowed from shock to terror to relief in an instant, and I could tell she had forgotten about it too.

"Yeah. I'm sure he got the scans."

At this point, with a visible effort of will, Blune composed himself and spoke up.

"I owe you an apology, Recker. I thought you were something of a joke, just deadweight on the mission, but you're not. When that…thing appeared, I froze up. I was sure we were dead. Then you went and did a half-dozen things I didn't even know were possible with those ships, saved our skins, and killed a monster the size of a city without breaking a sweat."

"Hey, my life was on the line too, so forget it." I've never been comfortable with praise like that.

"I can't. If the positions were reversed, if I'd been flying and you were running the scanners, we'd both be dead. I'm a pretty fair pilot myself, but you're in a whole different league. Here. I know it's not much, but it's a start on my repaying the debt I owe you."

"A Krill puck? Really? Thanks, I'm honored."

"I still owe you big. If you ever need a favor, let me know."

Psyme had kept quiet throughout this exchange, but now she spoke up, rescuing me from having to respond.

"Okay, that's enough male bonding time for one day. Let's get back to base and process these scans. I don't know about you two, but I'd kill for some air that doesn't smell like sulfur and ash."

End Chapter 3

A/N: First off, I want to give huge thanks to Saiyan Shadow, aka Shadow Revnyx, for posting a script of SSS where I could Google it. It's been a big help, especially this chapter, though I took huge liberties with what was said (butterfly effect, you know?) Second, I skipped a bunch of the more boring stuff involving walking around looking for stuff and fighting random battles. They still happened, I just didn't write them because they're not really integral to the plot. As for why Recker's so much better at flying than basically anyone else at this point: He was already among the best the first time through. Now add years of experience, but keep him at his physical peak.

Next chapter: The ice planet, zombies, Scarlet, and the original plotline gets derailed hard. Stay tuned! Also, please leave a review- they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Wow. Long Author's note. Stopping now.


	4. Chapter 4

New Game Plus: Sigma Star Saga

A/N: Footnotes are indicated by (1) or (2) and are located at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 4

As the lander segment of the starbase ascended and docked with the orbital component, Blune spent a few minutes communicating with the base before turning to us.

"Zelly wants to debrief us in the lab- she's got a conference set up with High Command." He looked at me apologetically for a moment before continuing, "Recker, she doesn't want you there. I think she's afraid you'll say or do something that'll offend the higher-ups." That this was because I was human went unsaid, but was clearly implied.

"Alright, be in my quarters."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Half an hour after we'd docked, I heard alarms start going off, and the door from my quarters to the corridor slammed shut with a clang.

"A security lockdown? That's strange. I wonder what's going on?"

Minutes later, I got my answer, as Blune walked in, followed by Psyme.

"Hi, guys. What's with the lockdown? Is something wrong?"

Blune opened his mouth, but Psyme answered before he could.

"Zelly discovered that someone was leaking information to the humans. She suspected you, hoped to catch you in the act with the lockdown."

"Psyme, you're not supposed to tell him!"

"What? He's clearly been right here, and I already told you I don't think he's the leak."

"Thanks, Psyme. Blune, I understand why you and Zelly might be concerned, since I am a human, but remember they're also the ones who imprisoned me. If it weren't for the Krill, I'd probably be locked up inside an asteroid prison right now, if I weren't dead already. I'm really not all that kindly disposed toward them at the moment."

Blune frowned for a moment before responding, "Okay, that makes sense. Damn, now we've got to run checks on everyone on the station." He walked out of the room grumbling. The two of us were silent until he'd left.

"Anything else, or are you just staying behind because you can't get enough of me?"

My wife chuckled, punching me gently on the shoulder.

"Why, both, of course! Zelly told me to escort you to her office, and you know full well how I feel about you. Unless you feel like you need some…remedial lessons on the subject?"

Her voice turned husky for this last bit, and she gave me a look that any red-blooded male would love to get from a beautiful woman. I moved forward to embrace her, and whispered into her ear.

"I was thinking more like some intensive hands-on study, but as you said, we have an appointment, so it'll have to be postponed."

"Me and my big mouth," she pouted.

"But I _like_ your big mouth, dear."

She blushed, then laughed.

"Come on. The sooner we get this over with, the faster we can get to more… important things," She pulled away, though still holding on to me, and looked me in the eyes. "And let me do the talking. I think that Zelly still doesn't trust you."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ah, Recker, Psyme, come in. I take it you are both well rested? Good. High Command has completed their analysis of the geological data you have collected. It appears that the vibration patterns of both planets match a third planet, one very distant."

"And you're sending us to check it out?"

"Correct. You will both be transferred to Starbase 3, along with the information and analysis. Share your findings with Commander Nomak."

"We'll leave immediately."

"There is one additional detail. Due to the discovery that there is a spy aboard this station, you will be transferred by cargo shuttle, rather than a personnel shuttle. It will help alleviate temptation in case the traitor was not working alone. It will also provide a degree of anonymity that may protect you from any sabotage attempts."

"Understood, Commander."

"Good. Report to the launch bay at once."

With that dismissal, we left.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Blune met us at the launch bay, looking distinctly unhappy.

"Recker! Listen, I think these planets are a lot more dangerous than they seem. High Command said that thing you killed was a parasite. What does a half-mile long parasite live off of? It would have to be huge!"

"Well, anything that can cause planetwide seismic activity would pretty much have to be enormous, wouldn't it? I can see why we're trying to figure out what it is- anything that powerful could make a real useful weapon."

"I guess…just…be careful. You're a good guy, Recker. Watch your back."

"I will. Stay safe."

With those parting words to Blune, Psyme and I stepped into the cargo container, sealing ourselves in. Fortunately, this was one of the biological cargo crates, and boasted a completely self-contained life-support system, including interior lights. It wasn't real comfortable, but it was certainly survivable.

"So…any ideas on how we can kill several hours, love?"

Psyme pretended to think for a moment, and then looked at me with an evil grin, "Well, we need to make sure our plans are on track. They'll probably need some adjusting, since I know we haven't been doing things perfectly the same this time around. We should also try to think if there was anything we missed or forgot before."

Something must have shown on my face, because she took one look at me and burst into laughter.

"Of course, that won't take the whole trip. I'm sure we can find…other things to pass the time."

"Right. So, how should we deal with Scarlet? What do we tell her?"

"Everything, I'd say."

"Really? Everything?"

"It'll make our job easier in the long run, once we convince her we're sane. Plus…"(1)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

CLANG!

I looked down at the sleeping angel cuddled against me, her arm around my chest.

"Time to get up. We're landing."

"Mmmph…don' wanna…few more minutes…"

"Come on, don't give me that. Weren't you the one that said we needed to be quick up once we landed?" I teased gently.

Golden eyes popped open and looked at me.

"Oh, yeah." She rolled away and sat up. "In case Zelly didn't drop us dirtside like she did last time."

I levered myself up, then offered a hand to help Psyme. She took it, hauled herself to her feet, and stretched as much as possible, given the low top of the container. I watched appreciatively, then glanced at the external environment indicators.

"Well, looks like we don't have to worry about that. Look at the temperature."

"Woah. That's cold. We'd probably better head out."

I opened the hatch and walked out into a frozen wasteland, my wife behind me. Fortunately, Krill parasites provide a certain degree of protection from temperature extremes, in addition to their numerous other functions, or both of us would have been risking frostbite. It was still cold, but not dangerously so. Psyme got a distant look in her eyes for a moment, then came back to reality.

"No contact with the fleet or the base, unsurprisingly. We'll need to send a stronger signal. Come on, let's go find Scarlet."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"AAAAHH! Help! Help me! They're everywhere!"

Scarlet was standing, her back to a wall, and firing wildly at the advancing zombies. Psyme and I shared a look and drew our guns. Less than a minute later, the quartet of zombies had the consistency of hamburger meat, and posed about as much threat.

"Calm down, Miss Keys. You're safe now."

"Wha- Who are you? Who is _she_? How do you know my name? Did you do this?"

Keeping my voice level, I responded, "My name is Ian Recker, this is my wife Psyme, and we didn't do this. As for how we know who you are, that's a long story. First of all, though, let's get inside," I gestured to the doorway leading into the underground base, "you must be cold, dressed like that."

Once inside, Scarlet looked at us.

"Okay. We're inside. Now, talk. Are you human? What's with the Krill? What's going on here? And how did you know my name?"

Psyme answered first, switching from High Krill to English.

"Your name is Scarlet Keys. You were part of the bioweapons development team stationed here by the AEF. You were recently sent a piece of what was supposedly Krill biological material to create a tailored virus. You were lied to."

I took over.

"Krill and humans have very similar biology. You actually designed a virus to kill off a bioweapon capable of destroying entire planets. We know this because we're from the future."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe so," Psyme responded. "On the other hand, have you noticed what language we're speaking? How many Krill do you know of that can speak English? For that matter, how would a human man and a Krill woman get to know each other well enough to get married while Earth is at war with the Krill?"

Scarlet was clearly shocked, but suppressed the emotion quickly.

"And how, exactly, did you go back in time? And why?"

"We don't know how. We've got a few suspicions, but all we know for sure is that when we died in our own timeline, something spoke to us and sent our minds back into our current bodies. As for why, again, we're not entirely sure. Our best guess is that we need to stop the Cataclysm."

"Cataclysm?"

I sighed. "The alien bio-matter you helped design a virus for is from a giant creature created by an extinct alien race as a bio-weapon. There are actually six of these creatures, at the core of six planets. They're incubating right now. They're going to hatch soon, and fight to determine which is strongest. The battle will ravage this portion of the galaxy. Tens of billions will die. That's what happened the first time around, and even then, we got off light. The Krill Tyrannical Overlord merged with the creature, was able to exert some control over it. We were able to kill it before it got large enough to endanger the galaxy, but we had to use the virus you developed. You sacrificed your own life to deliver it."

Scarlet looked skeptical. I didn't blame her.

"Please, Scarlet. We need your help- that's why we told you everything. We need to get samples of the virus, and then we need to use the samples on the creatures before they hatch. If we don't, a genocidal madman will have sole control over a weapon of incomprehensible power."

"Hm. Alright. I'll help you, but there are a few conditions."

"What are they?"

"We go to the lab here. Purple-girl donates some blood- I'll compare it to the tissue sample we based the virus on. If you're right, they should be very different. If they are, I'll help you. Otherwise, no deal."

I turned to Psyme.

"You're the one giving blood- it's your call."

"Of course I'll do it. I have to. Momentary discomfort against the lives of billions? No contest."

Suddenly, Scarlet was all business.

"Right. In that case, you two will have to protect us from those things out there. Do you already know the story behind that, or-?"

"A byproduct of your research got into the food supply and turned everyone who ate it into B-movie zombies. You were on a diet, and didn't eat any of the contaminated stuff. Am I right?" Psyme asked. I was impressed. I hadn't remembered why Scarlet hadn't become a zombie like the other scientists.

"Yeah." Holding her gun distastefully, as if it were a piece of something unpleasant, Scarlet continued, "I'm a lousy shot, and this thing is almost out of bullets anyway. You'll have to keep them from swarming us. Do you two know where the lab is too, or will I have to lead?"

"You lead. From our perspective, this planet's been an asteroid belt for thirty-eight years, and wasn't well mapped even before that. We've got no idea where anything is. We didn't even know if the lab here was still functional."

"Right. Follow me. Let's get this over with."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Okay, here's the lab entrance. It's sealed, so the zombies shouldn't have been able to get in. Oh, damn!"

"Now what?"

"I left my access card in my quarters."

Psyme and I both stared at her.

"You idiot! We fight our way through zombies and mutant animals, covering your useless ass, and you only now realize we have to go back because you forgot your _key_?"

Scarlet quailed under Psyme's verbal assault. I placed my hand on my wife's shoulder.

"Calm down, love. She probably didn't think she'd need to go to the lab when the whole area is infested with flesh-eating monsters."

"But-"

"Besides, you've been guilty of similar things before- remember what happened in Pamplona?"

Psyme blushed as I reminded her of that particularly embarrassing moment. I glanced up at Scarlet, who was watching us with an almost amused look. I made a mental note to ask her about that later.

"So what do we do? Do we have to go back and get the card?"

"I'm afraid so. Unless either of you can hack an electronic lock?"

"Not without tools we don't have right now. Would one of the zombies have a card?"

"I doubt it- they turned when they were asleep."

"Pity. Okay, you ready to go, Psyme?"

"Yeah. Sorry for snapping at you, Blondie- stress of the situation. I know you're not useless just because you can't shoot worth a damn. Hell, if you were useless, we wouldn't need you, and we'd never have told you the truth."

Scarlet grunted noncommittally. "Come on, let's go."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Okay, these are my quarters."

Scarlet tapped a code into the panel and the door slid open. At that moment, a large…thing came around the corner. It was bipedal, at least seven feet tall, and hugely muscular, with arms that hung nearly to the ground and ridged green skin that looked quite tough. It bore a vague resemblance to some of the Krill engineered soldier-creatures, but in the same way that a boa constrictor resembles a garter snake- clearly related, but obviously far more dangerous.

Scarlet squeaked at seeing it, and she whispered urgently.

"We need to go. Now. Maybe it won't see us."

"Did you get the key?"

Scarlet's response was cut off as the creature caught sight of us and roared, displaying a mouth full of an incredible number of enormous teeth and sounding alarmingly like a freight train. A corner of my mind noted that the formerly human-like hands had just sprouted large claws.

"Run!" Scarlet cried out, and matched action to words.

Psyme and I started firing at the advancing monstrosity, but after the first few shots had absolutely no visible effect on the thing, we turned tail and fled after Scarlet, quickly catching up to her due to our parasite-enhanced speed. I grabbed Scarlet's arm as we passed, and pulled her along, otherwise we would have passed her.

The scientist yelled "Get out of the building! We can seal it inside!"

Retracing our steps, we dashed out the door at the same moment the thing came around the final corner and charged. Scarlet yanked the plastic cover off a panel on the door's left and slammed her fist into the large red "EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN" button it protected. The charging creature was halfway down the corridor when the thick metal doors slammed shut. We all exhaled in relief, just before a loud clang startled us- it sounded like the monster had run full-speed into the barrier.

"Okay, what the hell was that!" Psyme demanded.

"Prototype for...super-soldier," Scarlet managed between sucking lungfuls of air- clearly our mad dash had winded her "Must have…escaped."

"Super-soldier? You never said anything about a super-soldier!"

"Assumed you knew…What did you…think we were doing here…before making the virus?"

"Great. Just great. So that thing broke out of the lab? So it's probably trashed and we can't get the virus done down here?"

By this point, Scarlet's breathing had evened out.

"No, Benny was kept in a holding area in a different part of the base. We hadn't worked out all the kinks in the conditioning system yet when the order came to drop everything and work on the virus. He must have escaped when the power failed, before the backups kicked in."

"Oka-wait. Benny?"

"It's an acronym. Bio-ENgineered Infantry. BENI."

"Cute." Psyme scowled, and turned away from the scientist. A realization struck me, and I spoke up.

"Did you get your access card?"

"It wasn't where I usually put it, and I didn't have time to look for it before Benny showed up and we had to run."

"Oh. And now, not only do we not have access to the lab, we're locked out of the building we need to get into to get access to the lab. This day just keeps getting better."

The momentary silence was broken by another loud bang coming from the other side of the sealed door. Psyme turned back toward us, worry evident on her face.

"Uh, Blondie? How strong is that door?"

"Really strong. Why?"

She responded by pointing at the door, where the metal had bowed outwards slightly, but visibly.

"I don't think it's going to be strong enough. I think we need to get out of here, and then I think you need to tell us everything you can about killing that thing."

Scarlet was staring at the door in amazement.

"That shouldn't be possible! That's a neosteel door- Benny shouldn't be strong enough to do that. Unless… if the cellular regeneration-"

"Hey, snap out of it! You can go all science-y on us later! Right now, we need to get out of here before that thing busts through! I refuse to get killed by some stupid science experiment!"

Scarlet shook herself. "Right. I know where we can hide."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fifteen minutes later, we were ensconced in meteorological warning station located a short distance from the rest of the base. Psyme had calmed down on the way, but the atmosphere was still tense.

"Alright, how do we kill that thing?"

"I thought you'd both done this already? How did you handle it before?"

"We didn't even know it was there. We thought the virus would be lethal to Krill, so we bombed it pretty heavily to be safe."

"Oh. Well, I don't know how much help I can be."

I spoke up, "Anything you can tell us about it might be helpful. We won't know what might be useful until you tell us."

"Okay. We designed it to be a frontline soldier- you know, cannon fodder. It's really tough- the skin is like Kevlar, and there's heavy bone armor over everything vital. The muscles are- well, I'll get back to you on that. It barely feels pain, it's got a molecular-level breath-filtering mechanism to protect from gas attacks, and the claws have almost mono-molecular edges. It's got an internal oxygen reserve and high-efficiency lungs, so it can operate for brief periods of low or no oxygen. It also heals fairly quickly, and can regenerate limbs and organs. That probably won't matter much- it still takes weeks to regrow just one limb, but bleeding it to death is unlikely. On the bright side, it's eyes and ears aren't any better than a normal human's, and it can't smell at all because of the filtering. In terms of how much it eats, I have no idea, but I know it has a much more efficient digestive system than a human, and can process a lot of things we can't. On top of that, it's immune to most common poisons. A strong enough electric current paralyzes it- that's how we kept him contained- and the brain was deliberately kept undeveloped, so this one should be pretty stupid."

She paused, taking a deep breath.

"The problem is that he's not acting according to specifications. He should be able to run faster than he was going, at least over short distances, and he _shouldn't_ have been strong enough to damage that door. I've got a few ideas about that, but I'd need to run some tests to tell you more for sure."

"In other words, if it does something unexpected, don't blame you? Fine. Any way we can electrocute it without endangering ourselves?"

"I doubt it. There are failsafes to prevent electrical fires in case of damage."

"I figured as much. Is it fireproof?"

"Fire-resistant enough that you're probably not going to get a good enough blaze going anywhere around here."

I broke into the conversation and held up a Krill puck, grown from my parasite using the genetic material provided by Blune as a template.

"Would this be of any use?"

Psyme's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed enthusiastically.

"What if we blew up his head? Hit it in the face with a couple of grenades, or maybe if we can get it to roar again, then toss one into the mouth. Think that would work, Blondie?"

"Uh, maybe? I mean, the skull is pretty heavily armored, but there are still gaps for eyes and stuff, and if you can get past the skin… yeah, I think if you can get a bomb into his mouth, you'll probably kill him. Even if that doesn't do it, it'll still slow him down."

"Works for me," Psyme turned to me, "now we just need to figure out how to do it without killing ourselves. How about we…"(2)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I shivered- not from cold, but from apprehension. I didn't like Psyme acting as bait for anything that could batter down a set of blast doors, but I didn't really have a choice. My job was, if anything, even more dangerous, and Psyme had wanted the positions reversed. I'd managed to convince her that this part was more likely to need extra explosives, and since her parasite couldn't produce them and mine could, we'd be more likely to succeed if I did it. I did still make sure she had a couple pucks of her own, though, just in case something went wrong.

"Hey, ugly! Come get me!"

She dashed by the branching corridor I was hiding in, stopped about fifty feet further on, drew her pistol, and fired at the approaching behemoth. I held my breath and concentrated on being quiet as BENI approached. Just as it lumbered past, I squeezed off a round right into the side of his head. I didn't expect it to hurt, but gunshots are loud, especially when the barrel of the gun is aimed at your head and only inches from your ear. The monster paused briefly as, taking advantage of the distraction, I leapt onto his back, wrapped an arm around his neck, and tossed my pistol aside where hopefully it wouldn't be damaged.

By this point, my involuntary ride had started to realize what was going on, and began reaching around to yank me off and presumably kill me. I poked him in the eyes, grabbed a Krill puck, and tensed for what would happen next. Fortunately, BENI acted the way I'd hoped- he roared in fury at being blinded. I quickly dropped the explosive disc into his mouth before leaping away as best I could. I landed on my side, grabbed another puck, and then looked at my foe. He was simply standing in place, arms hanging limply at his sides. As I watched, he crumpled to the floor, like a marionette with the strings cut.

"You don't look so good. Must have been something you ate."

Psyme, who had begun running toward us as soon as I had jumped off the creature's back, skidded to a halt when she got next to the corpse and burst out laughing.

I picked myself up and came over to her.

"Well, that's done with. What's so funny?"

"'Must have been something you ate!' When did you come up with that?"

"I am shocked, shocked I say, to find that you don't think I can come up with a good post-ass-kicking one-liner on the spot!"

"Only because I know you too well."

"If you must know, I thought of it while I was waiting for you to lure that back here."

This confession sent her into another paroxysm of laughter.

"Okay, okay, it's really not all that funny. Let's make sure this thing is really dead, and not just faking or something. Then we can get back to saving the galaxy, alright?"

Her expression hardened. "Right. Get your gun, and I'll make sure he's dead. No telling if that commotion attracted anything else."

I nodded and turned to look for my discarded gun. It was a short distance down the branching hallway, and I went over to pick it up. As my hand closed on the grip, I heard four gunshots behind me. Standing, I turned and saw my wife holstering her pistol- the corpse's eyes were a pair of ruined messes, and I could tell that she had fired through them to hit the brain directly.

Just then, Scarlet walked around the corner.

"I heard shots! Are you two okay? Oh, he's dead! Good job! Come on, let's get my card and we'll head to the lab."

Footnotes:

(1)Yes, Ian and Psyme had sex here. Since I can't write smut to save my life, I figured I'd omit the scene entirely, rather than subject you to it.

(2)Also, as you may have guessed, I don't like writing "planning" scenes. I prefer to show, not tell, and if the plan goes wrong, I'll try to make it obvious what the original plan was.

End Chapter 4

A/N: Whoo, getting off the rails big time here. What can I say, I go where the muse takes me. The next chapter might be a while, but I promise it'll come out, hopefully by the end of October.


	5. Chapter 5

New Game Plus: Sigma Star Saga

Chapter 5

Returning to Scarlet's quarters was uneventful- there hadn't been that many people for the zombification to hit, and we'd already killed off most of them. Scarlet quickly found her access card for the lab, and we started backtracking again. Just as I was starting to think that things were going too well, I was proven wrong.

"Ian… I feel kinda-" was all Psyme had time to get out before she collapsed, unconscious.

"Oh crap. Not this, not now."

"What's wrong? Is she sick or something?"

"No, this is normal for Krill women. It's just rotten timing. How could I have forgotten about this?" I was mentally kicking myself as I pulled Psyme's limp form into a fireman's carry.

"Randomly fainting is normal for Krill women? Really?"

"It's more like her parasite is going through puberty. It's usually a one-time thing. Come on, we need to find a cart or something to put her on- I can't defend us and carry her at the same time."

"Can't you just wake her up?"

"She needs to be immersed in a fairly large body of clean water. Any suggestions on where we could find one? And before you ask, no, a bathtub is not big enough."

"Then I can't think of anything."

"Damn. Well, we've still got to get to the lab. Are there any specimen carts or anything like that around here?"

Scarlet looked pensive for a moment before replying, "I believe you."

"Huh?" I responded eloquently.

"I believe your story. The way you two were acting, talking, even the looks you were giving each other, you're either the two best actors in the galaxy or you were telling the truth about your relationship. Considering everything else, that means you're probably telling the truth about everything else too. I'm not going to insist on a blood sample."

"That's great, but we still need to get to the lab. We need that virus before we can- oh, crap!" as another realization hit me.

"Now what?"

"Okay, this might not be so bad. Is there a broadcomm here? Never mind, those haven't been invented yet. What kind of comm system does this base have?"

"I…I don't know. Why, what's wrong?"

"If we can't wake Psyme up, we don't have a way to talk to the orbiting base. My parasite doesn't have the power to punch a signal more than a mile or so. I'll have to rig something up just to get them to come investigate."

"Can you do that?"

"If they've got the right equipment, it'll be easy. If not, it might turn out to be impossible."

"Why can't we call Earth? I know we can do that."

"That's… promising in terms of equipment, but not useful in and of itself. Remember, there's a heavily armed Krill base in orbit."

"Oh. Yeah."

"Look, let's deal with one problem at a time. Transportation first. Now if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something!"

"Uh… right. I don't think we have any wheelbarrows, but the maintenance closet just up ahead might have something you can use."

As it turned out, it did.

"Do I really want to know why this thing is big enough to lay out a person on?"

Scarlet looked a little green "No, you probably don't."

"I'll take your word for it." I gently placed Psyme on the metal cart/table thing. Next problem, get to the lab without dying horribly."

"I don't think that'll be too tough- it's not that far from here, and most of the zombies are already dead. Well, I guess all zombies are dead by definition, but-"

"I know what you meant. Lead on, I've got us covered. Anything else that might be roaming the halls? More super-mutants or anything like that?"

"Not that I know of."

End Chapter 5

A/N:Yeah, I know, short chapter. Sorry. RL is interfering with my writing process (among other things, my computer is no longer functional and my finances won't have the room for a new one for a while- this was partly written and was posted from a computer at the public library)


End file.
